Sorting machine



i, `1512,43# woRBols -'S'QRTING MACHINE Filed sept. 26, 1923 s sneets-sneef. 2 i

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INVENTOR m ATTORNEYS.

LSIZASB ,L .y woRBols YSOBTING MACHINE 1923 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed sept. 2e.

INVENTo lase 561160016 Patented Oct. 2l, 1924.

JESSE WORBOIS, 0F NORTH CHILI, NEW YORK, ASSIGN'OR OF ONE-HALF 'lO CHARLES H. ROBERTSON, 0F ENUMCLAW, WASHINGTON.

SORTING MACHINE.

To all whom t may concer/n.:

Be it known that I, JESSE Wonors, a citizen of the United States, and resident of North Chili, in the county of Monroe and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sort- -ing Machines, of which the following is a speciiieation.

The present invention relates to sorting machines and an Object thereof is te provide a machine which may be used for removing from plums kand other articles, eX- traneous matters such as dirt, leaves and the like, as well as under-sized pieces of the material to be sorted. A further object of the invention is to provide an improved feeding and agitating means for theI material on the sorting table. Ano-ther object of the invention is to provide an improved means of supporting the sorting |table so that the inclination thereof may be varied. A fur-ther 1object of the invention is to combine with a sorting machine a crating mechanism which will operate in timed relation to the sorting machine. ject of the invention is to make provision whereby the ysorting .machine and the cratingrnechanism `may operate in timed relation and will be independently controllable so that either Vone may be stopped independentlyV of the other. Still another and further object of the invention is to combine with a sorting machine a crating mechanism which will feed the crates past the discharge of the sorting machine and will, at the same time, agiltate the crates so that the material will be compactly packed therein.

To these and other end s, *the invention consiste of certain parts and combination of parts, all of which will be hereinafter described; the novel features being pointed out Vin -fthe appended claims.

Inthe drawings:

Fig. 1 vis a side elevation of a machine constl-'noted vin accordance with this invention; `Y'Fis-Qieepla-I1vie-W; y

fFig. is aside levaton opposed to `that side vshown in Fig. 1;

4 is .a v,vertical section through the machine with the crating mechanism removed;

Fig. 5 is a section on the line 5 5, Fig. 4;

Fig; 6 :a section on the .line 6 6, Fig. 4; Fis 7 is @enlarged .fragmentary ver-.tical A still further ob-v section through the crate feeding mech-anism; and

Fig. 8 is an enlarged sectional view of the clutch.

In the illustrated embodiment of the invention there is embodied a main frame comprising, in this instance, four uprights 1, each two of such uprights being connected by a side board 2 at their upper ends, the two side boards being connected by an end board 3. Braces 4 connect the uprights 1 on each side, and the'npri'ghts on the two sides are connected at their lower ends Vby cross pieces 5.

0n the main frame is a :shaft 6 which is journalled upon the `front uprights 1 at 7 and is driven in any suitable manner as by a bevelled gear 8 meshing with the bevelled gear 9 on a shaft 10 which has a worm wheel 11 thereon meshing with the worm 12 on a shaft 13, this shaft having a pulley 14 thereon over which passes a belt 15 connecting with a motor 16 supportedl on the main frame.

h/lounted to rock upon the shaft 6 is a sorting table formed by side pieces 17, an end piece 18 and slats 19, the slats bei-ng spaced apart to provide a slottedtable. The table as a whole fits within the side pieces 2. In order that the table may be held at different inclinations abo-nt the shaft 6 as an axis adjusting means is provided comprising, in this instance, a rock shaft 2O journalled in the side pieces 2 and having twoarms 21 which through links 22 connect with the upper end of the table. The shaft 2O is controlled thro-ugh an arm 23'which is held yin different positions by a rack 24. It is app arent that. the Iturning of the arm 23 will shift the sorting table about the shaft 6 .as an axis so that the inclination of the table may be varied.

For feeding the material downwardly on the table and at'the same time for agitating such material so that the smaller imaterial will drop through the slots of thetable, *there is provided a feeding and V ag-itating means, this comprising, in this instance, a rectangular frame 25 having cross bars `26 secured thereto, each cro-ss bar having longitudinally extending series of projections 27 arranged to operate in the slots of the table, there being provided V:a sufficient number of bars so that the material on the entire surface of the table is moved downwardly and at the same time is agitated. This feeding and agitating means has two movements, one to raise and lower the projections in the slots, and the olther tol move the pro'- jections longitudinally of the slots.

lThe mechanism for raising and lowering the projection in the slots embodies, in this instance, two shafts 28 and 29, each provided with cams 30 adapted to engage the under side of the feeding and agitating frame. These shafts may be rotated simultaneously by providing each of them on one end with a sprocket wheel 3l connecting such sprocket wheel by a sprocket chain 32. The shaft 28 has a gear wheel 33 which meshes with a gear 34 mounted to turn loosely on the shaft 6, as shown in Fig. 8, adapted to be connected to said shaft through a clutch member 35 which has projections 36 adapted to enter openings 37 in the gear 34. rl`he clutch member 35 is keyed at 38 with the shaft 6 so as to turnl with the shaft and at the same time to move longitudinally thereof. Move- 7 ment` of the clutch member 35 may be effected by a lever 39 which is pivoted at 40 to the side 2 of the main frame. lt is apparent that through the movement of the lever 89 the up and down motion of the feeding and agitating means may be controlled either to stop or start the same. A bar 40 extending across the main frame from the lever 39 to which it is pivoted at 4l may be employed for controlling the movement from the opposite side of the machine.

The movement of the projections longitudinally of the` slots may be effected in any j suitable manner but in this instance a link 4la is pivoted at 42 to the under side of the feeding and agitating frame and is eccentrically pivoted at 43 to a disk 44 secured timed that the projections descend as they if) reach the lower end of the movement in the slots and ascend as they reach the upper end of the movement in the slots. lt will also be noted that with the stopping of the up and down movement of the projections the stopping of the longitudinal movement ofV the projections also takes place.

The shaft 45 may be also used as a supportfor atake up device for the slack in the sprocket chain 32 and to this end an arm 48 is pivoted to the shaft 45 and has a sprocket 49, thereon meshing with the sprocket chain 32, a` spring 50 connecting withV the arm 48 and with the main frame and placing tension on the arm so that slack in the sprocket chain 32 is taken up'.

the frame 6l.

Material which falls through the sorting table drops on an inclined` chute 5l under it upon the main frame below the table, this chute being narrower than the table and having at opposite sides guiding surfaces 52 for directing the material to the chute. A guiding surface 52a is provided at the end of the t-able for directing the material into the receiving chute at this point.

ln order to insure the movement of the material directly on the chute an endless conveyor may be provided preferably in the form of a sprocket chain 53 passing about sprocket wheels 54 and 55 and arranged respectively at the lower and upper end of the chute. Extending transversely of this sprocket chain are slats 56 which travel up wardly and over the chute and downwardly under the chute, the material being discharged at the upper end of the chute. Movement of the endless conveyor of the receiving chute may be effected in any suitable manner but in this instance sprocket chain 57 connects with lthe shaft 58 on which the sprocket wheel-54 is mounted and also with a sprocket wheel 59 on the shaft 6 so that movement of the conveyor of the receiving chute is effected from the shaft 6.

Combined with the sorter is a crating mechanism embodying an endless conveyor upon which the crates 60 are placed, the endless conveyor positioning the crates so that the material discharged from the: end of the sorting table will be received by the crates during their movement through the conveyor.

rlfhis endless conveyor embodies, in this instance, a fra-me 6l having sprocket wheels 62 mounted on shafts 63 and 63a ournalled, on The sprocket wheels 62 are connected by two sprocket chains 64 which in turn are connected by bars or slats 65 to form an endless conveyor. At their ends these slots are guided on guide rails 66 so that the weights of the crates on the conveyor are taken up by the guide rails. Displacement of the crates from the conveyor may be prevented by rails 67 projected above and on opposite sides of the conveyor to cooperate with opposite ends of the crates.

ln order that the crate moving conveyor may operate in timed relation tothe sorting machine, the shaft 63a is hollow and a shaftr68 ext-ends therethrough being journalled at 69 on the main :frame of the sorter and having a sprocket wheel 70 thereon vwhich .through a sprocket chain 7l connects with a sprocketwheet 72 on the shaft l0 hereinbefore mentioned. 'A clutch connection may be provided'between the shaft 1*- shaft 68 to turn therewith and having longi- 7-1' ffl llfl

lill

tudinal movement thereon so as to be moved in and out of connection with the clutch 73. A lever 75 pivoted at 76 controls the clutch member 74.

To the end that the material in the crates will be agitated during the movement of the crates past the sorter, an agitating means is employed in connection with the endless conveyor comprising, in this i'nstance, a rock shaft 77 having an agitating arm 78 thereon. This arm lies over a rotary cam 79 on a shaft 80 which also has a sprocket wheel 81 thereon, this sprocket wheel connecting by a sprocket chain 82 with a sprocket wheel 83 on the shaft 63 so that, with the movement of the conveyor, the cam 79 will be turned and intermittently engage the agitating arm 7 8, causing the latter to cooperate with the slats 65 of the crate moving conveyor and agitate the latter, thereby causing the material. in the crate to be packed more closely together.

The operation of the invention will be understood from the foregoing description but it may be summarized as follows:

Material such as plums are discharged on t-he sorting table near the upper end thereof and are carried downwardly toward the discharge end of the sorting tabl-e by the feeding and agitating fingers, the small plums, dirt, leaves and other extraneous matter falling through the slots of the table onto the chute below the table. The desirable plums are discharged from the table into the crates 60 which, travelling in timed relation to the sorter, become filled by the time that they reach the end of the crate-moving conveyor. The inclination of the table is varied to obtain the desired flow *i of the material and the agitating and feeding means .of the crate-movin conveyor may be stopped at any time in ependently of each other.

vWhat I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: Y

l. A sorting machine comprising a slotted table, a shaft on which said slotted table is mounted to turn so as to vary the inclination of the table, and agitating and feeding means operating in the slots of the table supported by the table to be adjusted therewith and driven from said shaft.

Q. A sorting machine-comprising a slotted table, a shaft on which said slotted table is mounted to turn so as to vary the inclination of the table, agitating and feeding means operating in the slots of the tab-le supported by the table to be adjusted therewith and driven from said shaft, and means for adjusting the ltaible on the shaft as an axis comprising a rock shaft supported on a fixed part and having arms thereon and links connected to said armfs and tothe table.

3. A sorting machine comprising a main frame, a shaft supported on said main frame, a 'slotted table adjustable o-n said shaft as an aXis to vary the inclination of the same, a feeding and agitating frame having lingers operating through the slot of the table, shafts supported by the table to move therewith about the first mentioned shaft as an axis and having cams cooperating with the table to move the fingers above and below the upper surface of the table, said cams carrying shafts being driven from a shaft about which the table swings, and means for reciprocating the table also driven from the shaft about which the table swings.

JESSE WOR-BOIS. 

